Denial
by MadBlossomingPrincess
Summary: Ryan didn't have a crush on Kelsi. He really didn't. It wasn't as if he was in denial or anything...


MBP: So... I watched High School Musical on Friday (thanks Tima for helping me watch it to bug Pochi) and in the end, remembered I really liked Kelsi and Ryan together. Always have. I just forgot for a while because I fell in love with other shows and movies.

Rini: But I bugged her to make her write! And here it is!

MBP: Honestly, I just needed to get this down... and then a friend told me I should have uploaded it, so here it is! I own nothing!

Rini: Oh, and if anyone knows of any Ryelsi fics about the actual prom they went to, and can recommend them, they would be the most totally awesome people in the universe!

* * *

_**Denial**_

He wasn't an awkward person. How could he be, with a sister like Sharpay and a love of performing like he had? If he'd been awkward about any of it, he'd never have made it this far.

But there was something about Kelsi Nielson that just made him so… well, awkward was the only word for it.

He doubted it was the way she looked at him as if she could tell all his secrets, or the way her smile said more than words ever could, or that when her attention was fully on him his mind went into overdrive. It had to be something else.

Ryan wouldn't have said he had a type, but if he asked, he had a list. First, she had to be involved in the theatre somehow. There wasn't a choice in that; only someone involved would understand the demands it had and wouldn't beg and plead for more time together. Second, she had to be a good listener, someone that wouldn't act like his sister and hog the spotlight. Sure, he didn't want a complete doormat, but a girl that listened and worked with him would be nice.

Plus, she had to like hats. No real reason other than he liked them himself and matching hats would be cool.

Just because Kelsi was everything in that, being a composer/songwriter, and listened to his worries about being able to choreograph this show, and then helped him through it, didn't mean anything.

Because despite what everyone thought, he _did not have a crush on her_.

Honestly, he didn't understand the girls sometimes. Because somewhere in-between being straight and _not crushing on Kelsi_, he'd ended up becoming the male the girls all went to as if he were any other female… or the sassy gay friend like in YouTube videos.

Whatever they were thinking, while they were complaining that their boyfriends don't know how to ask them to prom, or how they don't have time for anything anymore, he was hearing them sing Kelsi's praises or asking if he'd asked her to prom yet.

He wasn't planning on asking Kelsi to that prom. He didn't really want to, not only because he didn't believe the prom was that big of a deal and he didn't want to go himself, but because of his sister.

If he asked Kelsi, and she ever found out Sharpay had told him to ask her to get a song… he didn't want to see Kelsi's face after that.

But only because he respected her and her talent. It wasn't because whenever she was hurt or sad, her eyes became even bigger and innocent, making the pain she was trying to hide just more obvious.

He did mention that he didn't want to go to Gabriella. She'd made some quiet mutters about idiotic boys, but let it go at that and the pestering stopped.

The fact that he wasn't planning on going to the real prom wasn't the motivation for having Kelsi be his dance partner in the prom scene of their musical. He _hadn't_ felt irritated that Kelsi's ex-interest Jason had wanted to dance with her for that scene even though Jason's new interest Martha was right there.

Granted, Martha was playing hard to get, but Jason doesn't get away with trying to dance with Kelsi that easily. Besides, they were both tripping over their feet. As talented as Kelsi is on the piano, her dancing isn't quite there.

She needed an experienced partner for herself… or so Ryan justified it to himself. It hadn't been irrational jealousy, but a professional interest since Julliard was coming about the scholarships.

The idea of asking her out _wasn't_ stuck in his brain after working with her for so long that when he finally asked if they could work alone, away from the rest of the cast and crew, it was only about the musical.

Only about the musical. They needed to work; they still had songs to finish and he had to know what he was creating dance to. And despite the fact Ryan always slept in late, he was more than prepared to wake up early and be at that music room.

He only asked about prom because he was curious. It wasn't because he'd heard rumors that Jason and Martha were fighting and that Jason was looking for a date for prom. It hadn't been because he heard Sharpay talking to Zeke about it and wondered if Kelsi would be as excited as the other girls seemed to be.

And when he said he would pick her up at eight?

He didn't have a reason. Wait, yes he did… he didn't want Kelsi to miss the prom that everyone seemed so excited about because she felt obligated to work on the show. That was the reason.

Okay, maybe he'd been in denial about everything. Maybe he did have a type and Kelsi was every part of it. Maybe he'd been planning to take her to prom before Sharpay mentioned anything about asking her as an evil plot. Maybe he'd made her his dance partner because he wanted to see if he could handle being so close to her… and to keep Jason's hands off of her. And maybe he'd wanted to ask her out since they'd met, and planned prom out for years, panicking when Kelsi seemed like she was going to say she wasn't planning on going. It wasn't as if it meant he had a crush on her.

And no. He wasn't in denial, because he _knew_ that he didn't have a crush on Kelsi Nielson. If someone asked if he _liked_ Kelsi, he'd be honest. He'd tell them that he liked her, but not in the way they thought.

No, it wasn't denial. Because he didn't have a crush on Kelsi.

He thought he might be falling in love with her.

But it wasn't as if he'd ever tell anyone.

* * *

MBP: So... thoughts? Any _constructive_ criticism would be greatly appreciated and, very likely, worshiped to immense lengths. I like constructive criticism.

Rini: Of course, just a general, "Hey, I liked this!" is always great too!

MBP: Thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed!


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